Animals possess many physiological attributes that give them their astounding sensory abilities. A prominent feature of these sensory abilities include vibrissae or long stiff hairs, commonly known as whiskers which are chiefly on the muzzle of most mammals and function as tactile organs. Whiskers are connected securely to the animal's sensitive muscular and nervous systems, sending information about the surrounding environment directly to the animal's sensory nerves. This gives the animal a heightened sense of feeling and thereby helps the animal adapt to changes in its environment.
The tips of whiskers have sensory organs called proprioceptors which are very sensitive to pressure. Proprioceptors help an animal detect the presence, size, and shape of nearby objects the animal may not be able to see. Furthermore, proprioceptors make whiskers exquisitely sensitive. Poorly designed food or water bowls may result in irritation to the the animal if the animals whiskers touch the sides of the bowl.
Bowls that have relatively deep and narrow sides are particularly ill-suited for animals, such as cats, equipped with elongated tactile hairs. In fact, cats have four horizontal rows of whiskers that extend outwardly to each side from the vicinity of the mouth and nose. The longest of a cat's whiskers may extend as far as the width of the cat's body. If a cat inserts its head partway into a poorly designed bowl, the cat may brush its whiskers against the sides. As a result, the repetitive motion of whiskers against the side of the bowl during feeding may inflame the nerves in the whisker causing irritation.
Animals with particularly sensitive whiskers that have become irritated have been known to stop eating their food altogether due to whisker sensitivity. Consequently, the animals have been known to eat their food only from the center of the bowl thereby avoiding their food located around the perimeter of the bowl. Since an animal's owner typically places a predefined amount of food in a bowl, an animal's unwillingness to eat food around the perimeter of the bowl due to whisker sensitivity may result in the animal not being sufficiently fed possibly resulting in malnourishment. As a result, the malnourished animal often becomes a nuisance to its owner.
In addition, servicing the nourishment needs of an animal during times of travel is substantially more challenging. Although feeding services for animals intended for use in the home are widely available these services do not incorporate many of the aforementioned features designed to improve animal posture and overall comfort while feeding. Portable feeding services do not use bowls designed to minimize whisker sensitivity while providing maximum food storage. As a result, overall animal discomfort is increased during times of travel.
As a result, a need exists for an animal food container that maximizes the amount of food storage during periods of travel while minimizing animal discomfort and overall anxiety when feeding.